A heating and blowing apparatus such as a hair dryer, a hot air blower or the like is design to draw air from an inlet port and force the air toward a discharge port by means of a rotating fan. In such an apparatus, a heating unit is arranged on an internal air flow path and the air heated by the heating unit is discharged through the discharge port.
In case of a heating and blowing apparatus having a negative ion generator, a bypass flow path that allows air to be discharged to the outside without passing through a heating unit is provided on the air flow path leading from an inlet port to a discharge port. The presence of the bypass flow path is to avoid restraining an ion passage amount, which would otherwise be caused by a lattice-shaped member arranged at the discharge port. The ion generator is arranged on the bypass flow path (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2002-191426).
Since a high voltage portion is present in the ion generator, it is required for safety to block fingers from contacting with the ion generator. Therefore, a cover is normally provided at an ion emission port through which negative ions generated by the negative ion generator are discharged. However, despite the provision of the bypass flow path for passage of the ions, the cover made of an insulating material is electrified by the ions generated in the ion generator, thereby causing the ion passage amount to decrease.